In his new book Hopeless
Class, Joel Rappoport provides a detailed
and highly readable account of how he
managed to become a finisher of the
2009 Iron Butt Rally on his 1976 BMW
R60/6 - a feat many were sure was hopeless!

A thousand miles in under twenty-four hours? In a plane, sure. A car, maybe. On a motorcycle? That's crazy. But that's what it takes to earn membership in the Iron Butt Association, the world's foremost organization for long-distance motorcycle riders. For these elite riders thousand-mile days in the saddle are so routine that for fun they turn them into cross-country scavenger hunts, awarding points for bonus locations along the way. The biggest of them all is the eleven-day Iron Butt Rally.